Why the Doctor Hates Hugs
by winniereed
Summary: The Doctor claims he hates hugs because it hides one's face. Clara discovers that in truth, he's ticklish. Fluff. The NEXT Chapter is Up! Going to add another. Might be considered Whouffaldi.
1. Chapter 1

Dr Who: Why the Doctor hates hugs

"Come on, come on, come on!" the Doctor insisted as he tugged on Clara's arm. His eyes were gleaming with excitement as he was practically bouncing on his toes in anticipation. "You've got to see this!"

Clara wasn't as excited. "Doctor, what did the Tardis do this time?" Recently, the Tardis was behaving funny. Ever since it was shrunk by the 2-D aliens, it kept on having odd "hiccups" as the Doctor called it.

The Doctor led her into a room that had a giant tree with amber bulbs dangling from its limbs. She couldn't help but smile at it; it was one of her favorite trees here in the Tardis. The Doctor dropped her hand and approached one of the branches.

"Watch," he ordered and carefully reached out to touch one of the soft, twinkling balls of light. Just as his slender fingertips were about to touch one of them, it wriggled and then floated off the branch and hovered in front of him. The Doctor looked at Clara expectantly.

"Is that it?" she asked.

Frowning at her lack of enthusiasm, the Doctor reached out to touch the ball of light again and this time, it broke into several small pieces and started to float toward her.

Slightly alarmed, Clara began to back away but they continued to follow her every movement. "Doctor, what are they doing?"

"Watch," he simply said with a smile.

With a gasp of surprise, Clara felt the light engulf her skin. It didn't seep in but rested on her arms and torso like a warm embrace. It felt warm, like a hug. She closed her eyes and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself to hug the light back. After a few moments, the light faded from her body and drifted back to the tree. She felt the light's touch still lingering on her skin and she smiled.

The Doctor looked at her expectantly. "Well? What'd you think?"

"That was…," Clara started to say and shook her head in wonderment. "That was amazing. What was that?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," the Doctor admitted. "That's why I brought you in here. I wanted to see what it would do to you."

"You mean you didn't know that it was going to do that?" Clara asked. "What if it was going to hurt me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor scoffed. "It wouldn't hurt you. And even if it tried, I would make sure you wouldn't be hurt. But tell me, what did it feel like?"

"It felt like someone was hugging me," Clara said. "It was warm, gentle and with a light pressure."

The Doctor visibly shuddered to which Clara frowned.

"Why do you hate hugs so much?"

"I told you," the Doctor explained. "It hides ones face."

Clara frowned, unconvinced. Then she grinned evilly before she reached out to touch another ball of light. The Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare," he said in a low voice.

Clara's fingers touched one of the balls of light and immediately they broke apart and began to drift toward the Doctor. The Doctor started to back away, nervous.

"Clara, why are you doing this?"

"Someone needs a hug," Clara simply answered.

The Doctor held his breath as the light began to rest on his arms, his whole body tense. To Clara's surprise, the Doctor's gritted teeth began to slip into a smile. His frame was starting to tremble with quiet laughter.

"Doctor?" Clara asked. "Are you ok?"

"F-fine," the Doctor said as his voice slipped into a whine of protest. He flinched again and his arms quickly wrapped around his middle in protection. He made another noise through his nose as though he was trying to suppress laughter.

"Doctor, are you laughing?" Clara asked, a smile spreading on her lips.

"N-n-no," the Doctor insisted and, to Clara's astonishment, giggled.

"Are you ticklish?"

"No!" the Doctor said a little too loudly and twitched violently. "I just don't like how this, fe-he-he-heels," he said as Clara watched as the balls of light started to fade away from his body. The Doctor sighed immensely and relaxed his tense body.

"Thank goodness that's over," he muttered.

" _That's what you think,"_ Clara thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Why the Doctor Hates Hugs: Part 2

The Doctor was frowning as he stared at the screen by the Tardis's console. He really didn't understand these readings and he didn't like not knowing.

"Come on," he muttered to machine. "What's wrong with you, old girl?"

He felt the air grow warmer and his ears focused on the light footsteps coming near him. He beckoned with his hand in permission to come closer.

"I've reentered the coordinates again but each time I do, it's slightly off," he said as Clara approached his side.

"That's off-putting," Clara smiled to which the Doctor scowled.

"Stop being silly," he said. "Why are you so silly recently?"

"I'm not being silly," Clara asked in confusion.

"Ever since yesterday, you've been smiling with your eyes but you're trying to hide it," the Doctor noted. "It's like you know something and you want me to know but you won't tell."

Clara didn't say anything. Her mind was on how the Doctor had reacted to the light orbs and she was itching to find out if it was solely because of the light or if the Doctor would respond that way to anybody. She began to swing her arm as she casually tried to get closer to the Doctor.

"I don't know what you're getting at," Clara said as her hand got dangerously close to the Doctor's side. But at the last second, she chickened out and pulled back her hand and pretended to push back a lock of hair behind her ear.

The Doctor noticed. "You want to tell me something, don't you?"

"No," Clara said a little too quickly.

"Clara, I wasn't born yesterday. I can tell if someone wants to tell somebody something and from the way you're standing—,"

"Doctor, are you ticklish?" she blurted out, inwardly cringing at how rushed it sounded. She was aware that her face was steadily getting warmer and she clutched her hands behind back as she waited for the Doctor to respond.

The Doctor glanced back down at his console and began to reenter coordinates. "No," he said, but his ears were red.

Clara saw and found courage to probe some more. "Your ears are red," she commented.

The Doctor stared pointedly down at the controls. "It's the lighting."

"I think you are," she said and allowed the urge to grin on her face.

To her delight, the Doctor wrapped his arms around his middle and began to back away from her.

"Clara, whatever you're thinking, don't."

She paid close attention to his voice as he said that. It wasn't a firm warning but a warning tainted with a friendly fear. To which she found her opportunity. She went up to him and attempted to touch his sides. His hands went down to grab her wrists but she knew how to get around that. She went upward to touch the back of his neck and he immediately scrunched up his body. That's when she was able to go back down and attack his ribcage with her fingers. He jumped and backed away.

"Clara, stop it," he ordered.

Clara hesitated, his words repeating quickly inside her ears as she struggled with the urge to continue. She watched as the Doctor went back to console and stared pointedly down at controls that he was pretending to fiddle with. Defeated, Clara hung her head and looked away, trying not to show her frustrated embarrassment. She missed how the Doctor used to hug her, how he showed physical affection whenever he felt like it; she wished he would let her in.

The Doctor glanced up and looked over at Clara, feeling her stare. His face softened a tiniest bit and she approached him. She carefully allowed her head to rest on the Doctor's shoulders and she snaked an arm around his waist. To her relief, he didn't resist. He awkwardly stroked her hair with the palm of his hand.

"Oh, Clara," he sighed. "How am I supposed to help you?"

"Hugging without permission?" Clara asked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I guess that's a start."

Clara frowned at the word 'start". Her heart began to beat quickly at what it might mean. "'Start?'" she asked.

"Before you can tickle me," he said, his voice twinged with acceptance and fearfulness.

Clara looked up at him in wonderment before she wrapped both arms around him and squeezed as hard as she could. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The Doctor winced. "Clara, you're crushing my ribs!"

Clara loosened her grip. "Sorry," and smiled to herself before she buried her face into his chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3: testing new waters

 **I still don't own anything about Doctor Who! Please enjoy and sorry it took so long!**

Appreciating the feel of the water, Clara swam underwater in the Tardis's giant pool. Coming up for air, her dark hair sticking to her face, she brushed it impatiently out of the way so she could see. What she didn't want to see was the Doctor staring down at her from where he sat with a book. She waded over to the side of the pool near his feet and rested her cool arms on the warm floor.

"Doctor, you should come in,"

"Why should I?" he asked.

"Because it feels weird to have you sit there. I feel as if you are watching me swim," Clara said.

"I _am_ watching you swim," the Doctor insisted.

Clara felt a small surge of icy adrenaline seep through her. "What?"

"I'm your lifeguard. In case anything happens," he explained.

"Nothing's going to happen," Clara reassured him as she dipped her hair back into the water in an attempt to get rid of her hair feeling sticky. "Besides, are you planning on jumping in with your normal clothes on? Why aren't you wearing swim trunks or something?"

"If something were to happen, would I really care about getting my clothes wet if your life was in danger?" he asked.

"I guess not," Clara admitted, inwardly pleased at what he said. She pushed away from the pool edge with her feet and began to swim toward the other end of the pool.

The Doctor, though book in hand, watched Clara's fluid movements through the water. His mind drifted toward yesterday and how Clara had asked if he was ticklish and immediately his cheeks grew warm. He squirmed at the thought but he couldn't help but think about it. He was embarrassed that she had asked but he was a tiny bit pleased that she did. That made him more embarrassed at the memory _because_ he had partially liked that she knew. His hearts were beating unnaturally fast as Clara made her way back to him. He glanced back at his book and pretended to appear nonchalant. Clara nodded toward the book in his hands.

"What are you reading?" she asked.

"Nothing interesting," the Doctor lied. In truth, it was something he rather Clara didn't see. But Clara was nosy. She hoisted herself up, water dripping steadily down her arms and legs as she approached the Doctor.

"Let me see," she requested as the Doctor leaned away from her, trying to keep her from seeing what he was reading.

"No," he protested but Clara, without thinking, jabbed her fingers into his side and he began to laugh. He held the book away from her with one hand as he tried to fight Clara off with the other but it was difficult as her fingers poked and prodded his sides, making his body automatically scrunch up to protect himself. Clara expertly went for his upper body and that caused him to lower his arm for a moment so that she could snatch the book away from him.

Chuckling in victory, Clara flicked open the book and looked at the contents. Her eyes became amused.

"Fanfiction?" she asked in disbelief. "Really, Doctor?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered a little defensively as he snatched it back. "And give me that, you're getting it wet."

Clara knew what kind of material fan-fiction was capable of and now she felt devious.

"I want to read it," she said and grabbed at it.

This time the Doctor was ready for her reaching for his book. He stood up and held the book behind his back. But in honesty, he really didn't think that through. Since both of his arms were behind his back, he had left his middle entirely unprotected which Clara saw. She viciously attacked his stomach which made him squirm and drop the book. Quickly, Clara grabbed the book and started to run away.

"Got it!" she yelled triumphantly.

"Oh no you don't," the Doctor said and chased after her. As the Doctor frantically tried to catch up to her, Clara realized that she might be able to use it to her personal gain.

"I'm going to read it," Clara said in a sing-song voice. She paused in her running and pretended to read the book. "I wonder what the Doctor is into these days. Nothing erotic, I hope?" and tsked.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Clara, don't,"

"This is too juicy, Doctor," Clara said. "You're going to have to give me something better," and began to read aloud. "As I gazed into her—,"

" _Wait!_ If you give me that, I'll let you tickle me for two minutes _!_ " the Doctor blurted out.

There was a long pause as the Doctor uncomfortably allowed Clara to let his statement sink in. As more time passed, the more he began to regret his hasty bargain and he really wished that Clara would say no. To his chagrin, Clara was giggling at the idea. Then she nodded to herself, pointing a finger at him knowingly.

"Oh, I _knew_ you were into smut," she said.

"I am not!" the Doctor protested but his ears warmed because she was close to what he liked to read occasionally and that secret was guarded better than his name.

"Slash?" Clara asked, ticking off topics that she was aware of.

" _No,"_ the Doctor said firmly, wanting this conversation to end. Sighing for a moment to steel himself for what he was about to say, the Doctor glanced down at his shoes, embarrassed. "Let's just, get this over with, alright?"

Clara's heartbeat quickened and she nodded once. She carefully approached him and reached out to take the Doctor's hand. As her fingers interlocked with his long, slender fingers, she couldn't help but admire how smooth and gentle his touch was in hers.

The Doctor looked down at their hands and felt something flutter with pleasure in his chest. Heat rose from within him and it warm every part of him and yet somehow, he could feel goose bumps on his forearms as he held Clara's hand. It was an odd feeling for him and he wanted to escape it but it was pleasurable enough that he wanted it to continue for a bit.

"I feel…" The Doctor started to say, a loss for words. Clara smiled and gently tugged on his hand.

"Let's go into a room that is more comfortable than in here."

The Doctor nodded, "All right."


End file.
